Talking points: accessibility
This page is for advocates who talk to people who care about accessibility: people with disabilities, designers, public bodies, educators. Accessibility claims are easy to overstate. Say exactly what the sources say, and be clear that they describe the administration.
Contents
What the sources cover
The documented accessibility work is in the administration (the admin4 design) and the help. The sources do not state that any public site design meets a particular standard. A public site's accessibility depends on its own templates and content (Accessibility checklists).
The points
| Say | Source |
|---|---|
| "The admin4 design follows WCAG rules that tests check: a contrast test of the color tokens in light and dark mode." | Styling the administration, Languages and accessibility |
| "Targets are at least 24 by 24 pixels (WCAG 2.5.8), and every form field has a name." | Accessibility checklists |
| "A skip link is the first Tab stop, with landmarks for header, menus, breadcrumb and main content." | The admin4 design, Landmarks and names |
| "The administration and the help can be used with the keyboard alone." | Keyboard shortcuts, The admin4 design, Keyboard |
| "Light and dark themes, Windows high contrast (forced colors) and reduced motion are supported." | Accessibility checklists |
| "Right-to-left languages turn the administration around, and content written in them gets the right direction." | Right to left |
| "Image fields can require an alternative text, per class; it is off until switched on." | Accessibility checklists |
| "Exponential Intelligence has a 'Missing alt text' report that queues suggestions for a subtree." | expai, For editors |
| "Instant search results in the help are announced to screen readers." | The help system, Languages and accessibility |
| "Contributors must follow the same rules: no inline styles, shared components, tokens with dark values; a test enforces it." | CONTRIBUTING.md |
Show it in one minute
- Open any administration page and press
Tabonce: the skip link appears. - Press the sun button in the header: dark mode.
- In the content tree, use the arrow keys.
- Open the help with the "?" and press
/to search.
Do not say
- "Exponential is WCAG compliant" or "fully accessible". The sources describe tests and features of the administration, not a conformance claim for every page or site.
- "Your site will be accessible." The site's own design and content decide that.
- "Screen readers work perfectly." Say what is built: landmarks, names, announcements; invite testing.
Questions you will hear
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| "Is there an accessibility statement?" | The sources do not contain one for the product. Each site publishes its own; the checklists help prepare it (Accessibility checklists). |
| "Can editors make accessible content?" | They can add alternative text; a class can require it; headings and lists in the rich text editor help structure. Training editors matters most. |
| "How do I report an accessibility problem?" | As a bug, in the right tracker, with the page, the assistive technology and what happened (Reporting bugs well). |
| "Can I help?" | Yes: test with your assistive technology and report; review a theme (Advocating for accessibility). |
Related pages
- Advocating for accessibility
- Accessible slides and visuals
- Feature highlights, Accessibility of the administration
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.